Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Indiana)... Discuss.

[npincus]

I thought his questions and retorts to Patraeus and Crocker were very good. In addition, he is physically attractive (to me, anyway) and exudes charisma. Otherwise, I don't know much about him. Would he be an asset on the VP ticket? i understand he's endorsed HRC, but at the end of the day he's a Dem and will back Obama should he be The One.

Anyhow, opinions about Bayh?



"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!"

[RB TexLa]

1. He's who I want on the ticket with Clinton, if that happens

[Horse with no Name]

2. No thanks. n/t

[npincus]

3. can you flesh that out a bit?

[SteppingRazor]

6. Bayh chaired the DLC 2001-2005...

and, of course, DLC membership, much less leadership, is anathema to some of our more-leftist fellow DUers.

I would say that Bayh certainly represents a very moderate, centrist voice in Democratic politics. Whether that's a good or bad thing I'll leave up to others.

My only points against Bayh would be that I think there's others who would add more to a ticket, in terms of resume and geographic/demographic voting blocs.

[TwilightGardener]

4. Ack.

[jobycom]

5. Clinton could do worse, I guess.

If Obama manages to win, I think he needs a non-senator, and someone older. Southern would be good. Gives him better demographic advantages, plus he'll need some executive experience on his ticket.

[Warpy]

7. Check his voting record. He's one of the most conservative

Democrats in the Senate: http://www.progressivepunch.org/members.jsp?search=selectName&member=INIII&chamber=Senate&zip=&x=65&y=13

This election is too important to have such a conservative man dragging the ticket down.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

13. I remember reading an overview...

of his votes and he barely votes with the Ds 50% of the time -- and the 50% he does vote with them tends to not be on core Democratic issues.

Bayh as VP is a dealbreaker for me.

[skooooo]

8. He's a shithead

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. A DLC pretty boy.

[Contrary1]

10. No thanks from this Indiana resident.

Besides, I wrote him that he would never get another vote from me, given his Yes vote on the flag amendment.

Here's how he has voted on other issues in the past:

http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=22418

[biscotti]

11. yuck

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. He's my Senator (and former Governor)

He used to be a pretty popular two-term governor back in the 1990's here in Indiana and I know that I voted for him for US Senate when he ran (after Dan Coats resigned) but I must admit that haven't really kept "tabs" on him much since he's been there but I've heard that he's been more on the moderate-conservative (i.e. "DLC") side in terms of his voting record but then again most Democrats here in Indiana are overall MUCH more moderate-conservative than they are nationally, so I never expected a strong progressive voting record from him. Amazingly, most Republicans here in Indiana still consider him to be too "liberal" to represent the interests of Indiana voters, which just goes to show how right-wing this state really is. Personally, I'm not that crazy about him, he doesn't have the charisma of John Edwards, and I can't recall anything particularly extraordinary that he's done here in Indiana or in the US Senate but he IS a Democrat after all (and definitely not a "Zell Miller Democrat") and I wouldn't particularly mind him being picked for VP if selected by either nominee although I think that he would likely end up being a VP choice for Hilary more so than Obama given her more "centrist" leanings.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

14. I just saw some of the televised hearing with him on C-SPAN

I thought that Bayh's performance in questioning Patreaus and Crocker during the hearing actually went pretty well and I think he summed things up nicely about their overall inability to really give the committee any good solid information about when we might be able to extricate ourselves from the Iraq mess, especially given how long we've now been in Iraq and where Iraq is now in terms of its ability govern itself without our ongoing intervention. I was expecting him and most of the Senators to be a lot more deferential towards Patreaus and Crocker but Bayh in particular really surprised me as did Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) in terms of their tough(er) questioning of Patreaus and Crocker and their apparent frustration at the lack of any real solid information from them. It is apparent to me that Patreaus and Crocker are either woefully incompetent and don't know what's going on or they are, for whatever reason, making a desperate effort to string the rest of us along in Iraq. Either way, it doesn't look good for the rest of us and our military.

[BigDaddy44]

15. He has nice hair

[Thrill]

16. Easy Answer. If you're a liberal. You won't like this guy

He's one of the Democrats that always cross over to vote with the Repukes.